Ketsueki
History The River of Blood In the beginning, Hiroto Ketsueki was thought to be a ruthless and cold killer, heartless and in need of killing, but unable to be destroyed. Many tried to claim his head, but all fell to his feet. He was a "monster," they screamed- an "unholy terror brought to earth." How could a human be thought of in such a way, or act so vile that he was cast out of every known village known to the Shinobi Realm? Hiroto was part of a clan that wished only to cause as much destruction and devastation as possible before they died. Legend goes that the group was so odious and malicious that when they stumbled across a tree (nicknamed "Tamashī no Ki," or "Tree of the Souls") it granted them powers beyond their wildest dreams. The tree was said to be evil, for it was even rumored that it grew upon a once battlefield in a river of lifeblood. The tree harbored an unspeakable evil, having grown from the flesh, blood, tears and pain of the fallen; at least, that's how the story was always told. The tree, which held no leaves, and whose bark was pitch black, granted clan of six the gift of life. By ingesting a mouthful of the Chi no Kawa (River of Blood, 血の河) that came from its very bark once struck, the six men were allowed to become something of a deity themselves, only to find themselves in unbearable pain as their souls were extracted from their still living bodies. When they awoke, they were nearly immortal. Arrows which pierced their hearts held no meaning, for the hole in their heart sealed back; the limbs, even after being chopped off, regrew as if by magic and no amount of damage done to them could be deadly. Currently, the only known living user of this Kekkei Genkai is Ushinatta, whose whereabouts are unknown, though it is possible there are others. The Developing Abilities As the clan grew larger, more and more people were born with this genetic mutation. Boys, or girls, mattered not, for all had a high chance of receiving this trait. Those that were born with it curiously began to develop mental instability; though it is currently unknown as to why that is, there is a myth that began to circulate around the possibility that the tree approached by their ancestors decided to take their mind in order to give them a perfect body. Some members consider it a curse, and more often than not the users of this Kekkei Genkai show a blood thirsty tendency, which many believe stems from their clan being that of hardened warriors; the need to fight is there as a constant. Their abilities begin with simple healing abilities granted the same as everyone's, but in a more swift process. Scratches, bruises, and scrapes will be gone within a few minutes after receiving the wound, but larger wounds will take hours, and afflictions of an even greater magnitude will take even longer; however, the user cannot die from wounds such as these. A more advanced user can begin regenerating lost digits. Not only this, their healing factor is increased as well to where small injures healing in seconds, larger wounds in minutes, and broken bones in hours; albeit, internal injures can take up to a day's time depending upon the severity and amount of actual afflictions. A master is nearly indestructible. Limbs regrow within a matter of minutes, small afflictions instantly vanish while larger ones are gone in seconds, and so on through minutes, but it will never take an hour for a master of the Kekkei Genkai to heal. Chakra is required for this healing in spite of it being a Genetic Mutation. There are no other pluses to this Kekkei Genkai, which means there is no large chakra pool or inhuman strength, for this ability came from a genetic mutation of Stem Cells, causing them to be permanently immature and become whatever the body needs at the cost of a weak mind and a blood supply that needs to be replenished daily; consequently, there are no other trumps from this clan. The need to replenish one's blood daily stems from the fact that the body heals itself when asleep, so one's blood levels are low in the mornings. Albeit this is true, their blood also has the ability to heal others, but the regenerative properties are fictitious. Any wound can be healed, but at a slow rate compared to the user's, and without the regeneration plus. Appearance of the Members If this bloody barbarianism could be looked past, it could be seen that these users resemble otherworldly beings with their inhuman perfection in appearance. Flawless skin, brilliantly colored eyes that normally don't vary far in hues of red or golden, and hair that's silk in feeling with darkly colored. Their height is average, though their weight is usually low; most female members are underweight. Curse from Kami As a member of this clan, there are three major drawbacks; whether there are more is currently unknown, but will be added here as discovered. The first and largest of the three is the Kekkei Genkai's limited ability. The only portion of the body that cannot be healed or regenerated on the user is the head, or brain. Stem Cells cannot multiply in the brain, therefore they cannot heal the brain from injury. In other words, if you cause enough brain trauma, or decapitate one of these clan members, they will be dead, period. The second drawback is that this Kekkei Genkai will not mix with any Doujutsu or or Kekkei Genkai, most certainly not if it is implanted. Foreign substances will be destroyed because of the body's hypersensitive immune system. Any foreign matter, Doujutsu or Kekkei Genkai in this case, that is attempted to be mixed with this blood will be destroyed once the body notices it; consequently, any Doujutsu having been implanted will be eaten away and discarded by white blood cells, meaning no eyes will be present and the individual will be in serious pain until removal of the foreign object. The third drawback is the weakness of mind, which normally led to psychological disorders. It was believed that no member of the clan ever reached mastery due to this, for they would go insane and be unable to tell the difference between reality and a dream. This also results in the clan's poor understanding of Genjutsu and usually a lack of any use for it. The final hindrance to this Kekkei Genkai is that it is Hematophagous (Blood Sucking). In order to heal the body, it takes not only chakra, but the blood from the user and causes anemia in those that fight frequently. It is required by those with this KG to carry around a supply of Blood Pills to keep their systems active, otherwise they will turn in to a beautiful pile of flesh and bone due to blood loss. Dokuchi was nicknamed "Kyūketsu" for this very ability, and sheds more light on the demonic tree that granted such powers.